Test summary from TripleA, engine version: 2.6.14418, time: 16:26:49
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2024 Playoff Farmboy (A+31) vs Al3xanderThegr8 (X) OOB
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on the pacific side, I think the main mistake on J1 was stacking Sz20 with the fleet. You are too far away from everything and if you go for a J2 as you did, you can’t protect the transports, You also don’t need to place a blocker against the US until you declare war. I simply can’t attack until you attack or J4.
A better set up there is to have the fleet in 36, 35, and/or 33. A strong presence in 33 encourages the US to stay further back to avoid being attacked. and 36 and/or 35 put you in a good position to reach the coast and the money islands. And the air should be mostly in Kwangsi and 36 because it encourages the British and Chinese to stay back.
Beyond that, it would have been good try to do a better job of protecting the transports. And while its important to have a few destroyers to counter subs and give you blockers, subs are usually the most efficient naval buy after you have 5-6 destroyers.
Finally, I also think the attack on Korea was a mistake as it brought your fleet north. The Soviets can’t hold Korea alone and they can’t really use it as long as the Germans are in teh game. So you may have been able to get it back. But once you went North, you weren’t likely going to get the money islands back.
But again, I thought you played quite well on both sides. And if you have only been playing a year, you are understanding the game quite well. And once you felt like you were losing, it may have been worth gambling on a riskier battle and hoping the dice help you out.
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@farmboy
For the Atlantic, this was the first time I had a G1 opener were I didnt use my entire air and BB for the British navy. Normally I sink the entire British navy on G1 but because of how you reinforced the navy. Once I made the decision not to sink both I felt the need to reserve the BB so I could try to contest the British navy later.I definitely realized after buying those early bombers that it was a mistake. I should have just kept buying fast movers. I felt behind from G1 not sinking the British Navy though so I was really thrown off my game. Thats why I did the G2 DOW instead of G3, I felt rushed.
I’ve never thought about that with choosing which direction to go into Russia. I normally go south because the of the minor and the areas are worth more than the northern route (most are worth 2 and then you have the middle east bonuses as well).
My original intent with those German bombers was to start strat bombing Russia. Is that worthwhile? Thats why I moved them to the Eastern front. Then I changed my mind and decided I was going to try and open a lane to Volgograd and the Caucasus.
Japan is definitely the weak point in my Axis game. I can never decide what I want to focus on and I tend to get distracted, pulled into a bunch of directions, and then losing the upper hand after allowing the US to build up for a couple turns. Generally, I know that the Philippines and Caroline Islands are the two areas that really allow for the maximum control of the Pacific because they can reach Hawaii, Japan, Malaya, and Australia.
I put the early blocker out there because of a scar I have from a previous game where I forgot to put a blocker after DOW on US and I ended up losing 3 brand new transports to a US sub. Now I tend to put it out there on turn 1 just so I don’t forget.
I was concerned that you were going to use Korea to land US planes and I’d never get it back, that’s why I committed to it. I like your advice about the navy buys. I wasn’t a fan of losing destroyers like I was. I definitely should have bought more subs.
What is your opinion on a J1 DOW against experienced players? I didn’t try it here because I assumed you would have an excellent answer to it given your experience. I’ve only ever really been successful with a J1 opener against players who didnt really know how to effectively utilize the early money for the US.
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@Al3xanderTheGr8 J1DOW is awesome when Yunnan isn’t stacked with too much extra. If Russia flies over fighters to reinforce the Chinese units, you often have to wait until J2 or even J3 as you are dealing with too much cleanup. Otherwise do J1 for sure. It makes capturing India sooo much easier.
I carefully use Cow’s opener. He has it totally optimized. An extra Yunnan infantry won’t make a difference in execution assuming average luck. I would also used a Japanese destroyer to go after the ANZAC destroyer + transport. You can hit the jackpot which is necessary when playing against a superior foe like Farmboy.
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@Al3xanderTheGr8 said in 2024 Playoff Farmboy (A+31) vs Al3xanderThegr8 (X) OOB:
@farmboy
For the Atlantic, this was the first time I had a G1 opener were I didnt use my entire air and BB for the British navy. Normally I sink the entire British navy on G1 but because of how you reinforced the navy. Once I made the decision not to sink both I felt the need to reserve the BB so I could try to contest the British navy later.One option here is to ignore 111 or to do an attack and see how round 1 goes and retreat.
With 110, you want to discourage the allies from scrambling. What makes the scramble worthwhile is that you can trade allied air for at least two german air. If there are more german air there than you are not likely to do more than 2 and if the BB is there, there is a decent chance that teh axis don’t lose any air at all.I definitely realized after buying those early bombers that it was a mistake. I should have just kept buying fast movers. I felt behind from G1 not sinking the British Navy though so I was really thrown off my game. Thats why I did the G2 DOW instead of G3, I felt rushed.
I think a G2 benefits from an early buy of fast movers as it means you are less likely to get jammed by the soviets.
I’ve never thought about that with choosing which direction to go into Russia. I normally go south because the of the minor and the areas are worth more than the northern route (most are worth 2 and then you have the middle east bonuses as well).
The southern route is typically better if you can do it for the reasons you identified. Different buys early might have made that possible too, or if you had more air available.
My original intent with those German bombers was to start strat bombing Russia. Is that worthwhile? Thats why I moved them to the Eastern front. Then I changed my mind and decided I was going to try and open a lane to Volgograd and the Caucasus.
typically it is worthwhile, but there is some risk too. I figured that that was what you were going for so I was surprised when it didn’t happen. I think you had room on that last turn to land them further West which would have complicated my move to land units
Japan is definitely the weak point in my Axis game. I can never decide what I want to focus on and I tend to get distracted, pulled into a bunch of directions, and then losing the upper hand after allowing the US to build up for a couple turns. Generally, I know that the Philippines and Caroline Islands are the two areas that really allow for the maximum control of the Pacific because they can reach Hawaii, Japan, Malaya, and Australia.
I’d check a few opening strategies by other players and see how they do it. The basic strategy of Japan is to position your fleet and air so that the allied player turtles on all sides ( to avoid lopsided losses) and then hit what you need. And you need more land units on the mainland so you need to use the transports to bring them out (and build factories on the mainland). So you will see after J1 that the japanese player typically has most of the fleet in the zones I identified and probably all the air in that area as well. If units are left up in Japan they are wasted on the following turn because they don’t pressure hte allies.
I put the early blocker out there because of a scar I have from a previous game where I forgot to put a blocker after DOW on US and I ended up losing 3 brand new transports to a US sub. Now I tend to put it out there on turn 1 just so I don’t forget.
I get that, and it is probably not too consequential, but because you have initiative as Japan you get to decide when the US can attack you.
I was concerned that you were going to use Korea to land US planes and I’d never get it back, that’s why I committed to it. I like your advice about the navy buys. I wasn’t a fan of losing destroyers like I was. I definitely should have bought more subs.
I definitely would have tried to hold it and you don’t want to lose it if you can. But there was more value to Japan in the South and keeping the fleet there would have limited what the US an do.
What is your opinion on a J1 DOW against experienced players? I didn’t try it here because I assumed you would have an excellent answer to it given your experience. I’ve only ever really been successful with a J1 opener against players who didnt really know how to effectively utilize the early money for the US.
I put the inf on Yunnan to discourage it, since it becomes harder to both do that battle and hit the BB safely. But it is still doable and I agree with ABH that in OOB, this is normally the strongest axis opening except when the soviets support Yunnan.
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